House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement today in response to the release of Speaker Ryan and House Republicans’ regulatory agenda, the third plank of their #WrongWay agenda.

House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement on Tax Day. Due to the observance of Emancipation Day in the District of Columbia, the federal filing deadline has been moved to Monday, April 18.

As we begin the new year and the Second Session of the 114th Congress, newly elected Speaker Paul Ryan has an opportunity to turn the page on the bitter partisanship of the past few years and show that he is willing to work across the aisle to get things done for the American people. The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that “House Speaker Paul Ryan starting this month will push to turn the chamber into a platform for ambitious Republican policy ideas.” But evidence points to the contrary, with the first items on the House’s agenda for 2016 being the sixty-second vote to repeal or undermine the Affordable Care Act, the eleventh vote to attack women’s health, and several bills that would undermine consumer safety, workplace safety, and environmental protections. House Republican leaders know these bills will never become law, yet they continue to pander to the far right with political messaging bills instead of bringing substantive, bipartisan legislation to the Floor. It is also unfortunate that Speaker Ryan has already taken issues such as comprehensive immigration reform and an expansion of paid family and medical leave off of the table.

This afternoon, the House and Senate received a letter from the Treasury Department providing notice that the extraordinary measures employed to avoid a default on or debt will be exhausted on November 5.

Today is the last opportunity for millions of Americans to file their taxes, and for many it is a reminder of the tangible contribution each of us makes in making the country we love safer, stronger, and more reflective of its core values.

I appreciate this opportunity to talk about how the budget resolution for Fiscal Year 2016 ought to guide our country in the direction of growth that is felt broadly, expanded opportunity, and a more competitive economy not just for today but for generations to come

Today’s Budget and Economic Outlook report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office shows how much progress we have made over the past few years to bring down budget deficits – yet it also reminds us how much work is left to tackle our long-term, structural debt.

While the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill considered by the House today includes a number of positive provisions, I could not support it in its current form because it guts federal support for a number of important transit and housing programs.

"I continue to be encouraged by positive signs of negotiation between the President and the Speaker. However, Speaker Boehner’s decision today to schedule a partisan vote on a ‘plan B’ is not helpful. America needs a big and balanced plan to reduce our debt, not more hollow political votes. While it is a good sign that talks continue, we need to keep the focus on negotiations to move the country forward.

It think it's a positive sign once again that the President and [Speaker] John Boehner are sitting down. I've talked to both of them. They both want to get to an agreement. ... Nobody's walking away from the table. The stakes are very high here, the hopes of America are keen on us getting to success, and failure is going to have real consequences, so I'm very hopeful that [Speaker] John Boehner and President Obama … are talking [about] a way to get us to an agreement that Congress can consider and hopefully pass so that America will have the confidence that we have placed ourselves on a fiscally-sustainable, credible path for the long-term. I think that's what America wants.

“Everything's on the table. That doesn't mean we're for what's going to be on the table, but we need to have a full consideration of the whole gamut of things that are creating this issue and that can solve this issue. We need to not go over the fiscal cliff. We need to come to an agreement, and the President, I think, is working hard to get there.”

When I say everything needs to be on the table… I want everybody to put their cards on the table and tell me what they’re going to do. … Now there’s some things we are absolutely not going to do… we’re not going to voucherize Medicare, we are not going to privatize Social Security. We believe very strongly that we need additional revenues if we’re going to get our country on a fiscally sound basis.

“All I said yesterday was … we need a balanced package and we need to all come to the table honestly, realizing we have differences of opinion, but also realizing this is a math problem. It shouldn't be a philosophical problem or ideological or partisan problem, it's a math problem. We have to get America on a fiscally sustainable path and in order to do that, we’re going to have to have a balanced package. We’re going to have to look at additional revenues.”

Today, I signed the discharge petition filed by Rep. Tim Walz that would bring to the Floor an extension of tax cuts for 98% of Americans and 97% of small businesses. These middle class tax cuts were extended by the Senate in July, and the House ought to take action immediately to provide certainty to families and small businesses that their taxes won’t go up on January 1.

“Everybody believes we ought not to go off the cliff. Sequester is not a good idea, and if we went off the cliff it would have substantial adverse effects on the economy. Nobody wants to go over the cliff including, in my opinion, [Speaker] John Boehner. However, we ought not to hold hostage middle-class tax cuts.”

“CBO’s update of its Budget and Economic Outlook released this morning couldn’t paint a clearer picture of our fiscal challenges. If Congress fails to resolve the so-called ‘fiscal cliff’ by the end of this year, according to the CBO’s projections, the first half of 2013 will plunge us back into recession and sharply increase unemployment.

"What Leader Cantor has done and what the Republican party in the House of Representatives have done is once more snatched delay and defeat from the jaws of victory. The Senate passed a bill which would give 98% of Americans assurance that they would have no tax increase January 1. The Republicans have now deep-sixed that, unfortunately. They know full well that the bill they passed yesterday will not pass the Senate."

“Once again, Republicans have pursued confrontation over compromise. By rejecting a bill on which there was clear agreement that extended middle class tax cuts, Republicans snatched delay from the jaws of victory. The President supports extending middle class tax cuts, and the Senate has passed it. We all agree that we want to make sure middle class families do not see a tax increase next year. But Republicans want to hold the middle class tax cuts hostage to additional tax cuts for the wealthy.